Abstract
Intercropping is an important practice in promoting plant diversity and productivity. Compared to the accumulated understanding of the legume/non-legume crop intercrops, very little is known about the effect of this practice when applied to native species on soil microbial communities in the desert ecosystem. Therefore, in the present study, bulk soil and rhizosphere microbial communities in the 2-year Alhagi sparsifolia (legume)/Karelinia caspica (non-legume) monoculture vs. intercropping systems were characterized under field conditions. Our result revealed that plant species identities caused a significant effect on microbial community composition in monocultures but not in intercropping systems. Monoculture weakened the rhizosphere effect on fungal richness. The composition of bacterial and fungal communities (β-diversity) was significantly modified by intercropping, while bacterial richness (Chao1) was comparable between the two planting patterns. Network analysis revealed that Actinobacteria, α- and γ-proteobacteria dominated bulk soil and rhizosphere microbial co-occurrence networks in each planting pattern. Intercropping systems induced a more complex rhizosphere microbial community and a more modular and stable bulk soil microbial network. Keystone taxa prevailed in intercropping systems and were Actinobacteria-dominated. Overall, planting patterns and soil compartments, not plant identities, differentiated root-associated microbiomes. Intercropping can modify the co-occurrence patterns of bulk soil and rhizosphere microorganisms in desert ecosystems. These findings provided a potential strategy for us to manipulate desert soil microbial communities and optimize desert species allocation in vegetation sustainability.
Highlights
Drylands cover ∼45% of the earth’s total land area and are especially susceptible to climate change (Huang et al, 2015; Pravalie, 2016)
Our results revealed a set of amplicon sequence variant (ASV) sensitive to planting patterns in both bulk soil and rhizosphere microbial communities (Supplementary Figures 3–5), and these microorganisms served as indicator species to explain the effect of planting patterns on the β-diversity of microbes in different soil compartments (Figure 3)
The present study shows bacterial and fungal communities associated with A. sparsifolia and K. caspica differ between monoculture and intercropping systems, despite the lack of significant difference of bacterial richness
Summary
Drylands cover ∼45% of the earth’s total land area and are especially susceptible to climate change (Huang et al, 2015; Pravalie, 2016). A set of bulk soil microbiomes are recruited to the root vicinity (rhizosphere) by host plant root exudates, in which some plant growth promotion (PGP) microbial taxa in the rhizosphere can help their host plants absorb nutrients and enhance stress resistance and immunity (Rout and Southworth, 2013; Edwards et al, 2015; Vandenkoornhuyse et al, 2015; Mukhtar et al, 2021). On account of this intimate interrelationship, perturbations in the abiotic environment that affect either plants or their associated microbial communities are expected to affect the other (Wardle et al, 2004), along with carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) biogeochemical cycles (de Vries et al, 2016; Averill et al, 2019; Schmidt et al, 2019). The symbiosis between microorganisms and plants drives vital ecological functions and service patterns associated with nutrient availability in soil ecosystems (Lekberg et al, 2013), highlighting the importance of microbial ecology research
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